Palestinian teen shot by Israelis, left to bleed to death

SHAFAQNA- A recent grisly video shows a 13-year-old Palestinian boy left to succumb to his injuries sustained from Israeli forces’ gunfire while callous bystanders and soldiers watch him bleed to death.

The slain boy, identified as Ahmad Saleh Manasra, was filmed bleeding on the ground near the illegal Israeli settlement of Pisgat Zeev in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Monday after some Israeli settlers chased him while soldiers arrived and shot him, claiming he had allegedly stabbed a settler. Police, however, have not yet proved the claim.

While Manasra was bleeding heavily on the ground, some Israeli bystanders shouted a mixed of Arabic and Hebrew obscenities at him.

Israeli soldiers and the passersby did not give the boy any first aid or comfort as he was dying from his wounds on the sidewalk with his lungs audibly filled with blood as he tried to speak and call for help.

An Israeli police member even kicked him back on the ground for a second time when the kid tried hard to raise his body and an onlooker was heard saying to police to “give him one shot in the head.”

An ambulance showed up at last but medics did not appear to take any measures to help the bleeding boy, except walking around idly to kill more time.

Manasra was finally taken to a nearby hospital after losing much blood, where he succumbed to his wounds.

Ahmad Saleh Manasra

The video has ignited shock even among Palestinians who are regularly exposed to the appalling atrocities inflicted on them by Israeli military and the extremist settlers.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 30 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces between October 1 and 13.

The recent deadly tension between the Tel Aviv regime and Palestinians was triggered by Israel’s imposition of sweeping restrictions on entries into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Qud on August 26 and Israeli settlers’ repeated attacks on the mosque.

Palestinians are furious at the settler violence and a plan by Israelis to change the status quo of the mosque that is Islam’s third holiest site after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina. The site is also highly respected by Jews and Christians.

International condemnations have poured in over the Israeli crackdown, with senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh calling the recent spate of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in West Bank and East al-Quds an “Intifada (uprising)” against the Tel Aviv regime. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has also warned Israel of another Intifada over Tel Aviv’s provocations in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.